• "All in favor of the amendment to Law 23.6 say 'I'." There was a chorus of 'I's. "All against say 'nay'." A couple nays echoed in the otherwise silent hall. "Amendment passed. We will break for recess before continuing. Dismissed."

    Eyner leaned back in his cushioned chair and grinned, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. That amendment had been the third he had proposed that week, one in a long string that would make him very, very powerful. He breathed deeply as a cold breeze from the newly opened doors drifted in, the fresh air smelling nearly as wonderful as he felt.

    His plan was rather simple. He was one of the lords of the surrounding estates in the capital, and that gave him a seat in the House. Meetings were held regularly to review proposed laws and minor disputes among the nobles. Over the course of a few weeks, Eyner would introduce a series of laws that compelled an anger toward an adjoining country, Hethon. The House's alliance with Hethon was tenuous at best, and the Hethon monarchy had large plots of desirable land along the sea-front. The soil was amazingly fertile, and the surrounding plains would be more than optimal for livestock. Hethon's military was weak, and, most importantly for Eyner's plan, their... "ways" were foreign. People disliked dissimilar cultures to their own. It would be easy to manipulate the people into a war. Of course, he would be at its head. He didn't know much about leading a war, but he already had the country's most skilled general wrapped around his finger. Once the people learned that Eyner was the master-mind and benefactor behind the war... well, who else would they choose for a leader? People had a habit of selecting the one that lead them to victory as their next leader. Very convenient.

    The only thing stopping him, as Eyner saw it, was the Diplomatic Trading Society. Raiding a country would ensure that the invading country attained all of the losing country's goods. That would hurt the DTS's business models. To protect themselves from such an occurrence, the DTS had established a "peace" effort. They had latched onto many of the more powerful lords, essentially bribing the nobles with a portion of the profits brought in by the DTS. Less focused on peace than it was on greed, perhaps, but it discouraged the House from voting for a war. Eyner thought he could change their minds however. If they only saw how different the Hethonians were - and how much each lord could benefit from a victory.

    Eyner chuckled as he rose from his seat. He could do with a little refreshment before the House sat once more. He had a law lined up, one that would ensure religious fervor amongst the nobles. That, he knew, was one of his most powerful tools in moving Jahad - his country - into war. When the people decided that Hethon's religion was heretical to their own, they would want to strike out. Many of the Lords that attended the House contained just as much zealotry as the general population. Word would spread of Eyner's new law, and then all he would have to do was plant the seed in one of the more zealous Lord's head that the House had to take Eyner's law a step further. The House would have a war-ready populous on their hands within a month. All Eyner had to do was take the baton, and the kingdom would quickly be his.

    Taking a cup of chilled wine from the refreshment table in a room adjoining the House's large voting hall, Eyner sipped the spiced beverage as he contemplated the afternoon's events. It would go smoothly, he was sure of that. His law proposed that anyone practicing Dantric - the pagan religion of the Hethonian country - within the Jahad borders should be forced to convert or be exercised. After all, the Dantric religion placed demons on the pedestal of the Almighty, rather than the One True God. A few more examples of their "unholy ways", and the House would be as full of 'I's as it had been a moment ago. Even a portion of the DTS' members might be spurred to act against Hethon when religion entered the playing field. Some, anyway; for others, greed outweighed religious zealotry. Not that they mattered. The DTS held no real power in the House, and even less with the general public. Eyner was certain his plans wouldn't be hindered by their petty stratagems.

    With a small smile on his face, Eyner noticed Lord Wilt enter the room, two of his servants trailing him. The man was old, his graying hair outlining a face lined with wrinkles, but the Lord held the respect of a great many people. He also held in him an overwhelming greed. A greed that Eyner had seen fit to manipulate for his own gain. Eyner had used the backing of the Lord in order to gain enough respect within the House to pass his proposals without much question. Eyner was a weaker Lord - or had been until Wilt had placed all his power behind Eyner. Eyner's status had risen rapidly. All he had had to do was promise Wilt enough wealth to double the old man's current worth. When asked how, Eyner had simply stated that a deal with the DTS he had recently made had broken through, and he would be attaining a vast amount of money. The old man had fallen for it like a fish to a hook.

    Wilt spotted Eyner standing on his own and made a beeline towards him. Eyner watched him approach through his spectacles, smiling slightly.

    "Ahh, Eyner. They sure took to your amendment in there," the older man smiled. "I've heard talk of you in the Lord's bath. They say you're going to go far. Making quite an impression, aren't you?"

    Eyner chuckled. "That's interesting to hear." He took a large sip of his chilled wine and twisted the goblet around in his hand. The Lords were already talking about him, were they? He had only just begun. This was a good sign, as long as the talk remained positive. That was an unforeseen benefit of his partnership with Wilt. Eyner wasn't ranked high enough among the Lords to attend the Lord's baths - an honour only granted to those Lords with sufficiently high profile and large financial networks. Even with Wilt's backing, Eyner wasn't considered powerful enough. Yet.

    "So how is that deal with the DTS coming?" Wilt asked, a glimmer in his eyes. He rubbed his hands together absently.

    "There's just the paperwork to shift through. You know how it is," Eyner replied, and raised his goblet to his mouth. A small droplet trickled into his mouth and he frowned. Lowering it, he glared into the bowl. Wine always had a nasty habit of being gone.

    Before he could move to refill his cup, however, Wilt nodded to one of his servants. "Refill the good Lord's cup for him." The servant made a bow. Eyner held his cup out for the boy to take, and the servant scurried off to where a pitcher was seated on the refreshment table.

    The only real threat Wilt posed to Eyner's plan was if the old man decided to take credit as being the brains behind Jahad's "victory" over Hethon. The people might turn to him as their leader. That would require Wilt to have an uncharacteristic amount of foresight, however. As it stood now, Eyner was just an investment to Wilt. And one with little possibility of backfire - if Eyner didn't follow through with his end of the bargain, then Wilt could simply destroy Eyner and make off with everything Eyner was worth. Ironic, that it was Wilt's insatiable greed that would keep him from attaining more wealth and power than any Lord had had in the thousad years since the House had been formed.

    "Is there anything else you have planned to propose today?" Wilt asked with some interest.

    Eyner nodded. "Only one more law for today. It should go through without a hitch." Wilt's servant returned with the full goblet of wine. Eyner took it and sipped it. It had a slightly bitter taste to it. The boy must have gotten a different wine than he usually drank. Still, it felt nice on such a hot day.

    "Well, good luck with your proposal, then," Wilt's face broke into a wide smirk before turning away.

    Watching the man's back with cold, calculating eyes, Eyner couldn't help the chuckle that reverberated in his throat. With his plan going as smoothly as it was, the old Lord's very timely death would be able to occur sooner. Eyner couldn't let the man screw up his plans, even if he was only a small threat. His death was a necessary loss. Eyner already had the plans in place. It was only a matter of time...

    ---


    Eyner folded his arms across his chest as he half-listened to the standing Lord. The man was proposing an amendment to the taxing system - from the little Eyner had paid attention to, it sounded reasonable. His mind was elsewhere, however. Next would be his turn to propose his law forcing the banishment of the Hethonian religion. He was going over his speech in his mind once more before that time.

    His chest twinged, causing Eyner to grimace, but he ignored is as much as he did the heated stuffiness of the air. This moment would be one of the turning points in his plan, and he had to make sure he got it right. He was confident he would, but eight years of studying under some of the best scholars in the world had taught him to practice everything until it was beaten into his brain.

    "All in favor of the amendment to law 44.2 say 'I'," the droning voice of the House's secretary said. A chorus of "I"s sounded, including Eyner's. "All against say 'nay'". A few "nay"s. "Amendment passed. Proceeding onto a new law, proposed by Lord Faust Eyner."

    The secretary gave a bored nod in Eyner's direction, and Eyner stood. His chest protested sharply as he did so, but he brushed it off. The pain might have worried him in any other situation, but not this one, not one that held so much importance.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, I stand before you now with a concern. A concern for the well-being of this nation. As you are very busy citizens of this great nation, I will get straight to the point. Numerous complaints have funneled into the capital from throughout the country. Complaints of a religious nature. Men and women and, dare I say, even children are being preached to by heathens," he put a light emphasis on the word, "to convert. Convert away from the One True God of our country." Eyner's hand twitched, trying to grasp at his chest. The pain was becoming more prominent. A bad case of heartburn was not what he needed right now. "These heretics are trying to get our people to believe in the Hethonian gods. Hethonian demons." He glanced around the room, and was pleased to see a light shining behind many of the Lord's eyes. They were drinking this in like babes suckling their mother's breasts. "They must be stopped!" Eyner exclaimed. He didn't like proposing laws or amendments with such passion, but a law of this nature demanded it.

    His chest let out a particularly painful tug. Now Eyner was beginning to worry. It felt as though a hand had closed around his heart. And in such a short amount of time! He had been fine a minute ago. He drew in a pained breath and continued. "I propose that... that we erect a law to ban the preaching of... of this religion. Those that push these beliefs... on our people... should be punished justly."

    It was getting hard to breath. What the hell was going on? This time Eyner gave in to his body's demands and his hand came up to clutch at his now burning chest. He could feel his vision blur, his balance swoon.

    "As Lord Eyner's benefactor, I second that proposal!" Lord Wilt said, standing. Benefactor? What was the old man... Eyner collapsed in his chair and began to suck in short, ragged breaths. Realization hit him. This wasn't heartburn, it was poison! He had heard of these symptoms before. Hyland poison. When crushed and grounded, the Hyland plant made a potent, fast-acting poison that targeted the heart. And the survival rate wasn't high.

    Through his blurring vision Eyner saw a number of Lords stand and step toward Eyner. He must look as bad as he felt. A number of shouts pushed through his dulled senses, but he couldn't make out what they said, or even who said them. As his mental capacity rapidly diminished, he tried to figure out when he could have been poisoned. He hadn't accepted any food, or... The image of a servant boy handing him a goblet of bitter wine floated in his head. Eyner cursed. That had been sloppy. Wilt must have... Wilt must have figured out his plan. He was going to take it from here. He would take... take Eyner's... take... what would he take?

    The pain in his chest reached a critical state, and Eyner felt blackness enclose around him. His last thought was of Wilt, the old man standing before a vast, cheering mob. And Eyner standing to the side, an intense anger filling his chest to match the pain that was now slowly pulling him into nothing.